Push Piers

Ram Jack® deep-driven steel push piers are 2-7/8" diameter sectional pipe piles. They are hydraulically jacked into the ground to bear on rock or a solid soil stratum. The piles are manufactured from high strength carbon steel tubing into standard lengths of 3, 5 and 7 feet, with couplings on the ends to allow them to be strung together as necessary to engage competent bearing stratum. They are coated with a polyethylene copolymer-based thermoplastic powder coating for corrosion protection.

Applications

Ram Jack® steel piers are used to transfer loads from the soil near the surface to deeper, more suitable load-bearing strata below. They typically are used in conjunction with various foundation attachment brackets to underpin foundations of existing structures. They are usually installed plumb, as for supporting gravity loading, but may be installed at an angle if necessary to help stabilize a foundation against lateral loads. They are most often used to underpin distressed foundations but can be used to support light loads such as wing walls, interior floors and porch slabs as well as heavier ones such as single- and multi-story buildings and electrical transmission towers.

Advantages

• Can be installed in any weather
• Installation requires no excavation
• Installation utilizes no impact forces and produces no vibration minimizes the risk of damage to adjacent structures from soil movement
• Ready for use immediately after installation
• Installation produces no spoils to be disposed of or remediated
• Installation equipment is small and lightweight allowing work in tight quarters and on soft surface conditions

Installation

Ram Jack® steel piers are jacked into the soil by means of two hydraulic cylinders. The hydraulic cylinders normally connect to a foundation attachment bracket at their bottom and to the pier through a gripping attachment at their top. As the cylinders are retracted, the cylinders pull down on the pier; the foundation provides the reaction for the upward force created when the piers are jacked down into the soil. The pier is driven until the driving resistance indicates the pier is founded on a sufficiently hard stratum to provide the needed foundation support.